Auroville snapshot

About Auroville

99%

voted as clean

Auroville City is considered to be a ‘City of Dawn’ that is situated around 8 km from the main town of Pondicherry. It lies on the East Coast Road and was founded by Mirra Richard in 1968. This city was designed by the French architect Roger Anger with the purpose of achieving human unity. The word Auroville essentially means a universal town, where people can live peacefully, irrespective of nationality, colour, caste and creed.

Auroville was officially inaugurated on 28th February, 1968 and was endorsed by UNESCO and the Government of India. During its inauguration, soil from over 124 countries was placed and mixed inside a lotus shaped urn, symbolising universal oneness. Auroville was built to welcome people from all over the world to live together and explore scientific, educational, cultural and spiritual pursuits as per the Auroville charter.

Tourists can visit the Auroville Information Centre and Matrimandir (meditation hall with one of the biggest man-made crystal balls in the world). Matrimandir has a unique architectural shape, which was conceived by Alfassa, resembling ‘a symbol of universal mother’. It has around twelve gardens, future lakes, banyan tree, twelve petals and an amphitheatre.

The residents of Auroville are engaged in administration, handicrafts, agriculture, commerce, education, healthcare, alternative technology and development projects. There is a visitor centre located near Bharat Niwas, which is the Indian National Pavilion in Auroville’s International Zone. It has a permanent exhibition on philosophy and the history of the project.

This information centre offers brochures, books and leaflets about Auroville. The centre also has three boutiques, a cafeteria and a bookshop inside the attraction. Presently, Auroville covers an area of about 2 square miles, resided by over 1,900 members from 40 different countries.

151 traveller reviews for Auroville

Its a centre not for visiting for time-pass. You should spare half a day and go inside the meditation centre. The structure is very good and the material used keeps the place cool even the temperature outside is 36 degrees.

Loved this place for its serene, calm. The only thing is that you need to have your own vehicle - a cycle, two wheeler, which is available for hire. This place so huge to even go from one point to another, you need to have your vehicle. You could choose to relax here or do some activity.

This is the right place to relax in nature and good food. The French people mostly live here. It's close to the beach has a meditation dome. Good pizzerias around the place. A nice souvenir shop with aromatic items for shopping.

Last year I went to Auroville Mathirmanthir. It was such a amazing place. The Auroville community is bad, they are not giving proper instruction to the tourist. The Auroville beach is good place in Auroville. The hotels are very good. Auroville was a excellent place in Pondicherry. I ever seen in my life.

It was a unique experience visiting Auroville. It has a charm unsurpassed. Lots of things to explore, learn and enjoy. The Auroville Matrimandir is a wonderful place to visit. Make sure you don't miss it.

Nice experience to stay near to beach. Hotel located well near JN Street and market. Hotel offers...Reviewed Yesterday

About HolidayIQ.com

HolidayIQ.com is a premier holiday information portal powered by India's first & biggest travel community; enabling travellers to first discover numerous vacation choices, then plan holiday trips in full detail and finally, share holiday experiences with millions of other travellers.